
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC285g-4]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                    CHAPTER 6A--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
 
              SUBCHAPTER III--NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES
 
   Part C--Specific Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes
 
   subpart 7--national institute of child health and human development
 
Sec. 285g-4. National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research


(a) Establishment of Center

    There shall be in the Institute an agency to be known as the 
National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (hereafter in this 
section referred to as the ``Center''). The Director of the Institute 
shall appoint a qualified individual to serve as Director of the Center. 
The Director of the Center shall report directly to the Director of the 
Institute.

(b) Purpose

    The general purpose of the Center is the conduct and support of 
research and research training (including research on the development of 
orthotic and prosthetic devices), the dissemination of health 
information, and other programs with respect to the rehabilitation of 
individuals with physical disabilities resulting from diseases or 
disorders of the neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, 
pulmonary, or any other physiological system (hereafter in this section 
referred to as ``medical rehabilitation'').

(c) Authority of Director

    (1) In carrying out the purpose described in subsection (b) of this 
section, the Director of the Center may--
        (A) provide for clinical trials regarding medical 
    rehabilitation;
        (B) provide for research regarding model systems of medical 
    rehabilitation;
        (C) coordinate the activities of the Center with similar 
    activities of other agencies of the Federal Government, including 
    the other agencies of the National Institutes of Health, and with 
    similar activities of other public entities and of private entities;
        (D) support multidisciplinary medical rehabilitation research 
    conducted or supported by more than one such agency;
        (E) in consultation with the advisory council for the Institute 
    and with the approval of the Director of NIH--
            (i) establish technical and scientific peer review groups in 
        addition to those appointed under section 282(b)(6) of this 
        title; and
            (ii) appoint the members of peer review groups established 
        under subparagraph (A); and

        (F) support medical rehabilitation research and training 
    centers.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the duration of a 
peer review group appointed under subparagraph (E).
    (2) In carrying out this section, the Director of the Center may 
make grants and enter into cooperative agreements and contracts.

(d) Research Plan

    (1) In consultation with the Director of the Center, the 
coordinating committee established under subsection (e) of this section, 
and the advisory board established under subsection (f) of this section, 
the Director of the Institute shall develop a comprehensive plan for the 
conduct and support of medical rehabilitation research (hereafter in 
this section referred to as the ``Research Plan'').
    (2) The Research Plan shall--
        (A) identify current medical rehabilitation research activities 
    conducted or supported by the Federal Government, opportunities and 
    needs for additional research, and priorities for such research; and
        (B) make recommendations for the coordination of such research 
    conducted or supported by the National Institutes of Health and 
    other agencies of the Federal Government.

    (3)(A) Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 
the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Amendments of 1990, the 
Director of the Institute shall transmit the Research Plan to the 
Director of NIH, who shall submit the Plan to the President and the 
Congress.
    (B) Subparagraph (A) shall be carried out independently of the 
process of reporting that is required in sections 283 and 284b of this 
title.
    (4) The Director of the Institute shall periodically revise and 
update the Research Plan as appropriate, after consultation with the 
Director of the Center, the coordinating committee established under 
subsection (e) of this section, and the advisory board established under 
subsection (f) of this section. A description of any revisions in the 
Research Plan shall be contained in each report prepared under section 
284b of this title by the Director of the Institute.

(e) Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee

    (1) The Director of NIH shall establish a committee to be known as 
the Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee (hereafter in this 
section referred to as the ``Coordinating Committee'').
    (2) The Coordinating Committee shall make recommendations to the 
Director of the Institute and the Director of the Center with respect to 
the content of the Research Plan and with respect to the activities of 
the Center that are carried out in conjunction with other agencies of 
the National Institutes of Health and with other agencies of the Federal 
Government.
    (3) The Coordinating Committee shall be composed of the Director of 
the Center, the Director of the Institute, and the Directors of the 
National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Arthritis and 
Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood 
Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 
and such other national research institutes and such representatives of 
other agencies of the Federal Government as the Director of NIH 
determines to be appropriate.
    (4) The Coordinating Committee shall be chaired by the Director of 
the Center.

(f) National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research

    (1) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the 
National Institutes of Health Revitalization Amendments of 1990, the 
Director of NIH shall establish a National Advisory Board on Medical 
Rehabilitation Research (hereafter in this section referred to as the 
``Advisory Board'').
    (2) The Advisory Board shall review and assess Federal research 
priorities, activities, and findings regarding medical rehabilitation 
research, and shall advise the Director of the Center and the Director 
of the Institute on the provisions of the Research Plan.
    (3)(A) The Director of NIH shall appoint to the Advisory Board 18 
qualified representatives of the public who are not officers or 
employees of the Federal Government. Of such members, 12 shall be 
representatives of health and scientific disciplines with respect to 
medical rehabilitation and 6 shall be individuals representing the 
interests of individuals undergoing, or in need of, medical 
rehabilitation.
    (B) The following officials shall serve as ex officio members of the 
Advisory Board:
        (i) The Director of the Center.
        (ii) The Director of the Institute.
        (iii) The Director of the National Institute on Aging.
        (iv) The Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and 
    Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
        (v) The Director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other 
    Communication Disorders.
        (vi) The Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood 
    Institute.
        (vii) The Director of the National Institute of Neurological 
    Disorders and Stroke.
        (viii) The Director of the National Institute on Disability and 
    Rehabilitation Research.
        (ix) The Commissioner for Rehabilitation Services 
    Administration.
        (x) The Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs).
        (xi) The Under Secretary for Health of the Department of 
    Veterans Affairs.

    (4) The members of the Advisory Board shall, from among the members 
appointed under paragraph (3)(A), designate an individual to serve as 
the chair of the Advisory Board.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title IV, Sec. 452, as added Pub. L. 101-613, 
Sec. 3(a), Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3227; amended Pub. L. 102-405, title 
III, Sec. 302(e)(1), Oct. 9, 1992, 106 Stat. 1985.)

                       References in Text

    The Federal Advisory Committee Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), 
is Pub. L. 92-463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770, as amended, which is set 
out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
    The date of the enactment of the National Institutes of Health 
Revitalization Amendments of 1990, referred to in subsecs. (d)(3)(A) and 
(f)(1), probably means the date of enactment of the National Institutes 
of Health Amendments of 1990, Pub. L. 101-613, which was approved Nov. 
16, 1990.


                               Amendments

    1992--Subsec. (f)(3)(B)(xi). Pub. L. 102-405 substituted ``Under 
Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs'' for ``Chief 
Medical Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs''.


   Preventing Duplicative Programs of Medical Rehabilitation Research

    Section 3(b) of Pub. L. 101-613 provided that:
    ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services and 
the heads of other Federal agencies shall--
        ``(A) jointly review the programs being carried out (or proposed 
    to be carried out) by each such official with respect to medical 
    rehabilitation research; and
        ``(B) as appropriate, enter into agreements for preventing 
    duplication among such programs.
    ``(2) Time for completion.--The agreements required in paragraph 
(1)(B) shall be made not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act [Nov. 16, 1990].
    ``(3) Definition of medical rehabilitation.--For purposes of this 
subsection, the term `medical rehabilitation' means the rehabilitation 
of individuals with physical disabilities resulting from diseases or 
disorders of the neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, 
pulmonary, or any other physiological system.''


                     Termination of Advisory Boards

    Advisory boards established after Jan. 5, 1973, to terminate not 
later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date of 
their establishment, unless, in the case of a board established by the 
President or an officer of the Federal Government, such board is renewed 
by appropriate action prior to the expiration of such 2-year period, or 
in the case of a board established by Congress, its duration is 
otherwise provided by law. See sections 3(2) and 14 of Pub. L. 92-463, 
Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770, 776, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, 
Government Organization and Employees.
    Pub. L. 93-641, Sec. 6, Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2275, set out as a 
note under section 217a of this title, provided that an advisory 
committee established pursuant to the Public Health Service Act shall 
terminate at such time as may be specifically prescribed by an Act of 
Congress enacted after Jan. 4, 1975.
